Cooker for oil-bearing material and the like.



A. w. FRENCH. COOKER FOR OIL BEARING MATERIAL AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I6. 1912.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

UNITED STATES ALFRED W. FRENCH, OF PIQUA, OHIO.

COOKER FOR OIL-BEARING MATERIAL AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

Application filed February 16, 1912. Serial No. 678,115.

To aw whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED W. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Piqua, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, have invented a new Improvement in Cookers for Oil-Bearing Material and the like, of which the followin is a specification.

his invention relates to steam cookers or heaters of that kind which are used for heating oil bearing meals or material prepatory to expressing the oil therefrom, and particularly to cookers in which the discharge of material from one chamber to the next is controlled by a downwardly openin gate.

he object of the invention is to provide a desirable and practical construction wherebythe gate has ample room to swing fully open without interference by the traveling stirrers for the material, even in shallow chambers, and whereby the material is prevented from clogging or being retalned in the gate openings so as to be overheated or scorched;

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is anelevation partly in section of a steam cooker embodyin a sectional plan 1% of one .of the 3-3, Fig. 2.

Like refereiice characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

ereof. Fig. 3 is a section eating chambers in line A represents a, steam cooker orheatcr which, in the construction illustrated, comprises a series of heating chambers arranged one over and upon the other, each chamber having the usual hollow bottom and side walls a and a to which steam is supplied for heating the material. Each chamber has a bottom discharge opening 72, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, controlled by a gate B. This invention is not, however, concerned with the construction and arrangement of the heating chambers and except as hereinafter described the usualor any suitable construction can be employed.

he cooker is provided with a stirrer which, as'sllownf'consists of a rotary shaft 0 extending centrally through the cooker and provided with arms or sweeps D D which project therefrom in the bottom portion of each chamber. The sweeps shown are straight and are secured to a hub E on the shaft G at opposite sides of a diameter of the hub, so that the leading edge of reach and useful the invention. .Fig. 2 is.

sweep extends obliquely rearward from the radial with reference to the direction of rotation of the stirrer, as indicated by the broken radial line X and the arrow in Fig. s a consequence of this arrangement, the leading edges e of the sweeps engage the material at such an angle that the material is moved around in the chamber in the direction of movement of the sweeps and in addition is gradually shoved outwardly toward the circular wall of the heating chamber. The outer end of one of the sweeps extends upwardly beside the heating chamber as indicated at c, and causes an upward movement of the material adjacent to the circular wall of the chamer. I

F represents a deflecting plate or bar se-- cured to the circular wall of each heating chamber above the sweeps and extending eccentrically inward therefrom for deflectcircular wall of the' mg the material inwardly away from said 1 Wall.

The cooker shown that kind in which the material discharges by gravity more or less continuously from one chamber to the next one gate B of one chamber is adapted to- 'be closed by a part or device in the drawings is of below and the rldes on the material accumulating in the next lower chamber,

so as to automatically I close the gate and regulate the quantityfof' material in each chamber and the length of time required for the material to pass through the several chambers of the cooker; As the level of the'rotatin body of material. in one chamber rises \or respondingly close or opem In these cook ers', as heretofore constructed, the discharg alls 1t causes' the gate for the next, chamber above to coropening gradually increases in width d'ownwardly to prevent the clogging of the material in the opening, and the gate is hinged on the underside of the hollow bottom of the chamber. In very shallow chambers, this arrangement does not afford room enough to allow the automatic gate to swing downwardly without coming in contact with the revolving sweepsD D when the chamber is emptied, and the sweeps knock the end of the gate at each revolution; Also a certain amount of material is apt to be held by the. gate in the deep opening betweenthe upper and under sides of the hollow bottom of the chamber, and to become scorched from the heat of the bottom. By undercutting the shown at discharge opening in the chamber bottom, as

I in this enlarged lower portion of the opening, these objections are overcome.

withoutconta'ctwith the sweeps, even m very shallow chambers, and the material will not clog in the opening, so as to be re-.

tained therein and overheated. h. This invention is not restricted to the constructioni'of the stirring means described above; such construction being only one of tion with the invention.

I cla1m=as my, invention:

1. Thecombina'tion of a plurality of heat-' ing chambers an upper one of which is pro- Vided with-a hollow bottom to which steam is supplied for heating the material, and which has an opening'through which the material discharges to the next chamber below, the dischargeo'pening of such upper chamber being undercut, and .a", gate which ishinged in th e enlarged portion of the discharge opening and isadapted to ride on the G in Fig. 3, and hinging the gate The gate has amplefiroom to swing fully open material in the lower chamber for controlling the, discharge of the material from the upper chamber, substantially as set forth. n

2. The combination of a plurality of heating chambers anupper one of which is provided with means for heating the material and which has an opening in its bottom a hinged gate which is located in theeib larged portion" of said discharge opening,

and means adapted to ride on the material ini'the lower chamber and operatively con- -;nected with said: gatefoi' controlling the discharge of the material from thefi pper 1chamber,"substantially'as:set*forthl Witness my .hand this 12th 1912 v,

: ALFRED through which the material discharges to v the next chamberbelow, the discharge opening of such upper chamber being undercut,- 

